Medicine: Death Draws Back

The U.S. death rate set an alltime low in 1948, the National Office of
Vital Statistics reported last week. There were 1,444,337 deathsi.e.,
9.9 per 1,000 population, compared with 10.1 in 1947 and 10.0 (the
previous low) in 1946. Markedly lower were deaths in childbirth (down
17%) and from syphilis (down 8%). But both heart disease (the heaviest
killerone-third of all deaths) and cancer slightly increased their
toll.